Aspect of the Past
by Darkwraith
Summary: Tabitha never mentioned his life before Team Magma. He didn't even like to think about it. Until the day a girl with a link to his past walked into his life. Slightly AU. Rated T for some content.
1. What Started as Just Another Day

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable characters.

**What Started as Just Another Day...**

Tabitha groaned inwardly as he walked through Team Magma's secret base, heading for the boss's office. It wasn't even 10:30 yet, and already he'd been summoned to appear before Maxie, according to the grunt who'd had the gall to enter his office without knocking. At first, he'd been really annoyed, but when the grunt relayed the boss's orders for him, he grew concerned. When he asked why the boss wanted to see him so early, all the grunt would say was that it had something to do with his and Courtney's fight the previous evening. At that, Tabitha groaned loudly. Why couldn't everyone just forget about that? What had started out as just a simple discussion, had quickly dissolved into a screaming match that had all the grunts rushing out into the corridor to see what was going on. It ended with an extremely furious Maxie standing between the two commanders demanding to know who started it. The ensuing finger-pointing and childish name-calling did nothing but make the Team Magma leader even more furious, while the grunts stood around, watching the unfolding drama in shocked and horrified disbelief. Maxie turned to the grunts, and told them, in no uncertain words, to clear out. Naturally, they obeyed very quickly, tripping over themselves in their haste to leave the scene. Maxie then turned to his commanders and told them that they would further discuss the issue in his office first thing in the morning.

Now, it was time to face the wrath of the Team Magma leader. _'No matter,'_ Tabitha thought, _'it shouldn't be too hard to convince Maxie that I'm innocent.'_ After all, since when did his experience with women have anything to do with the possible location of Groudon. During their discussion, which had centered around the legendary Groudon, and where Team Magma might find it, Courtney had implied that Tabitha had no experience with women on a personal level. Tabitha had fired back, implying the same about Courtney, and things went downhill from there. Of course, Tabitha would never admit to Courtney that she was wrong on that count. He sighed as memories of Elizabeth flooded his mind. He had no intentions of mentioning her to anyone within Team Magma. _EVER!_ Especially the first and only date, if you could even call it that, they'd ever had.

_They'd met at an off-campus college party. Elizabeth was 23, and the richest student on campus, as well as the most beautiful, according to Tabitha's roommate. The daughter of an aristocrat, she was studying fashion design. Tabitha was 19, came from a lower middle-class family, and had no idea what he was going to do with his life. Although he was studying geology and technology, he had yet to declare a major. He knew he would have to soon, but he didn't know what to major in. Tabitha's roommate was the one who'd convinced him to go to the party in the first place. When he got there, Tabitha realized that the only person there he recognized was Elizabeth. She stood in a corner, looking around. When she saw him, she smiled and approached slowly, looking relieved. "It's nice to see a familiar face," she said gently. She held out her hand and said, "I know we haven't been formally introduced. My name's Elizabeth." Tabitha reached out and took her hand. "I'm Tabitha," he said. They stayed together the rest of the night. At one point, they walked along the beach, talking about their studies, their lives, and their plans for the future._

_After awhile, they realized that they had to get back to the party. By that time, most of the kids were sleeping wherever they'd found room. By chance, Tabitha and Elizabeth found an unoccupied room and spent the night there. When Tabitha awoke, he realized that Elizabeth was gone and that he'd made a really big mistake. _

They'd never so much as spoke after that night. Two weeks after the party, Elizabeth transferred to another school in the Sinnoh region. Not long after that, Tabitha dropped out of collage, and joined an ambitious man named Maxie. Now, almost ten years later, he was Team Magma's field commander. _'Although probably not for too much longer after last night.' _Tabitha started when he realized that he was already at the door to Maxie's office. Hesitantly, he knocked on the heavy wood door. The expected reply was quick in coming. Slowly, Tabitha walked through the door and assessed the scene. Maxie was sitting behind his desk, while Courtney was standing in front of the desk, and to Maxie's right, looking as nervous and unsure as Tabitha felt. As soon as, Tabitha closed the door, Maxie instructed them to sit down. He then proceeded to lecture them about the importance of setting a good example for the grunts, and how vitally important teamwork is, especially for the commanders. After going on for some time, he then informed them that for their punishment, they'd be working together on inventory – for the next month!

Tabitha and Courtney shared a horrified look, but they didn't say a word. They knew that anything they said at that time would just make things worse for them. It was then that Maxie stood up and said, "you both start on the inventory sheets this evening. That is all. Courtney, you may go. Tabitha, I need to have a further talk with you."

After Courtney had left, Maxie told Tabitha to gather several grunts and head out to a mountainous region where some ancient ruins could be found that might have some connection to Groudon. Maxie told his field commander, "I want you to leave within the hour." Tabitha nodded. "Yes, sir!," he said, and left to round up a good-sized group of grunts.

Meanwhile, in the ruins, a young girl enshrouded in a black hooded cloak, with a shiny mightyena by her side, was looking over what was to be her next "home." _'Six months! Six miserable months!,' _She thought to herself, forlornly. Six months ago to the day, the girl's mother and her mother's fiancee, shipped her over to the Hoenn region from Sinnoh. They'd explained to her that it was time for her to began her pokemon journey. She had been very confused to say the least.

"_Tomorrow is a very big day for you," her mother had said. "That's the day you set off for Hoenn to began your long journey with pokemon." The 8-year old girl, with dark eyes and dark hair just looked at her mother as if she'd gone crazy. "But, Mother," the girl protested, "I thought that I couldn't start my pokemon journey until I turned ten!" A tall, thin, muscular man entered the room and glared at the girl, "You listen to your mother or else!," Brent snarled, in the harsh way he always spoke to her. Right from the beginning, he'd made it quite clear that he didn't like her at all. One day, not long after he'd gotten engaged to Elizabeth, he'd taken her daughter aside and informed her that there was no way he was going to raise another man's child. Especially an illegitimate child. Now, three months later, they were shipping her off alone, despite her young age. "B-but, what about my birthday?," she'd asked, "how are we going to be together if I'm in a different region?" Her mother smiled reassuringly, and said, "you don't need to worry about that. Just call us at home from a pokemon center, and we'll fly out to see you and spend the day with you. And don't worry. You'll make a bunch of friends, both human and pokemon."_

So far, her experiences as a trainer had led her to conclude that pokemon training was a solo and lonely affair. Except for the pokemon she had caught, she hadn't made any friends at all. Sometimes, she wished for some human companionship. Even her birthday had been a sad and lonely day. As planned, she'd called home from a pokemon center, only to be told by Natalie, the family servant, that her mother and future step-father were already in the Hoenn region. "I'll call them and tell them where to find you," she'd said, after the girl told her where she could be found. She'd spent the rest of the day at the center, waiting in vain for her family to show up. They never did. In the end, she'd spent the day with her pokemon. That was two days ago, and she had yet to hear from her family. In truth, she wasn't expecting to hear from her mother ever again. She figured that her mother had sent her to Hoenn just so that Brent would finally marry her. After all, they'd been engaged for over two years. She could tell that her mother loved Brent by the way she looked at him. As for her, she'd never been shown any kind of affection by her mother. She knew that she was nothing more than a painful reminder of the night of a certain party, and the worst mistake that her mother had ever made. Elizabeth and Brent had made sure that she never forgot that fact by reminding her constantly, along with the fact that she looked a lot like her father. Now, two days past her ninth birthday, the girl, who'd taken the name Amanda, since her mother had never bothered to name her, wandered aimlessly through the ruins. When she reached the lowest level, she sat down in a corner, pulled her knees to her chest, buried her face in her knees, and started sobbing. Her loyal mightyena curled up by her side, watching over her protectively.

At first glance, the ruins didn't look like much to Tabitha. But, still, he had his orders. He commanded his underlings to split up in groups of two, and sent them into the ruins to look for Groudon. _'Hopefully this time, Team Aqua won't show up,'_ he thought to himself, _'or that kid with the pikachu and his friends.'_ That kid was so annoying. Tabitha didn't know if all kids were that annoying, or if it was just that one kid. He had no experience with kids.

Two of the female grunts were walking side by side towards the lowest level, having decided to start there and work their way up. The grunt with almost teal colored hair looked over at her purple-haired teammate, and said "do you think we'll find anything this time?" The purple haired grunt just shrugged. "Who knows?," was her only response. As they got closer to the lowest level, they heard a sound coming from the area they were going to explore. "What's that?," the teal haired Team Magma member asked. "I have no clue," her companion replied as they got closer to the room where the noise was coming from.

When they reached the furthest room on the lowest level, where the source of the sound was, they found a young child curled up in a far corner, sobbing quietly, with a brown and gold colored mightyena curled up beside them. The sight of the child sitting there alone was heartbreaking. As they approached the distraught child, the mightyena lifted it's head and growled threateningly. "Take it easy," the purple-haired grunt said soothingly, "we're not going to hurt your trainer."

Amanda had been sitting there crying and feeling extremely sorry for herself, when she heard her mightyena growl and a female's voice. With effort, she stopped crying. "W-who a-are y-you?," she stammered, unsure of the woman's intentions.

The Team Magma members recoiled in shock at her words. _'She thinks we're going to hurt her!,' _the purple-haired grunt thought horrified. Slowly, keeping a wary eye on the mightyena, the two Magma grunts stepped up to the girl, and knelt down in front of her. The girl's mightyena watched the two very closely. "So, where are your parents?," the teal haired grunt asked, thinking, _'surely this girl is way too young to be out here all alone.'_

Amanda sniffed and said, "my mom and her fiancee are somewhere in the Sinnoh region, and I don't know where my real dad is. I never met him." At that, she looked up at the two women, who were wearing really odd costumes, like they were going to some kind of weirdo gathering or something.

The two Team Magma members stared at the girl's face in shock and bewilderment. They shared a shocked look. After all, their field commander had never mentioned having a kid, or even the possibility. And yet, here was a girl who looked very much like Tabitha. After a few moments, the purple-haired grunt told her companion to stay with the girl for a minute, before she walked a few feet away to contact Tabitha. She was so rattled by the unexpected revelation, that she forgot to use the proper protocol for radio contact.

"Uh, sir? I'm on the lowest level of the ruins. I think you'd better get down here. We have a serious issue."


	2. A Secret Comes to Light

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Pokemon, or any familiar characters.

**A Secret Comes to Light**

Tabitha ran through the ruins as fast as he could. 'A serious issue' was _not_ what he really wanted to hear. Especially after the morning he'd had. All things considered, he was almost afraid to think about what could be in store for him in the ruins. As he ran, he heard the sound of running feet ahead of him. _'So, others were just as alarmed.' _No matter. It was good that the grunts had a strong sense of teamwork. His thoughts on that subject were interrupted by the sounds coming from the indicated room. It seemed like everyone had beaten him there and were discussing the 'issue.' As he got closer, he heard pieces of the conversations that were taking place between the grunts. Tabitha heard his name mentioned several times. "I can't believe it!," one grunt said. "Why didn't he say anything?" Another grunt just shrugged. "I don't know," he replied, "but I'm sure Tabitha had his reasons." By this time, the Team Magma field commander had heard enough. "What's going on here?," he asked, making his way towards the grunts, who were standing in a semicircle around something. Several of the grunts looked over at him and moved out of his way. "I think you'd better see for yourself, sir," the one closest to Tabitha said. Wordlessly, he walked towards the cause of the commotion.

Amanda continued to sit in the corner, staring at the floor, only half-listening to the adults around her, wondering why they were so shocked by her facial features. _'Could it be that they know my real father?,'_ she wondered idly. She heard someone else approaching from behind the others, but she continued to stare at the floor, only looking up when she heard a man address her in an authoritative manner. "So, who are you, and what are you doing here?." he asked. Amanda sighed, and said, "my name's Amanda, and I'm here because I don't have anywhere else to go." As she said the last part, she looked up at her interrogator, and started in shock. The costumed man in front of her looked so similar to her, it was as if she was looking in a mirror.

Tabitha stared at the young girl in absolute shock. _'No! It can't be! This- this is impossible!'_ He couldn't believe how much this girl looked like him. _'No wonder the grunts were talking amongst themselves!'_ He quickly did the math in his head. While it _was _possible that this girl was his daughter, it was very unlikely. He knew that children couldn't start out on their own with a pokemon until the age of ten. And if she really was his daughter, she would have just turned nine not too long ago. "So," he said, in a softer voice, "how old are you?" The girl gulped and said, "I-I'm nine, sir," in a quiet, meek voice. _'Strike one,'_ Tabitha thought to himself. "When did you turn nine, Amanda?," he asked, in a softer voice. The girl flinched, as if she'd been struck. "Two days ago," she said sadly. Tabitha calculated the exact days in his head. It didn't take very long. _'Strike two,' _he thought, with an increasing sense of foreboding. He almost dreaded asking the next questions, although he knew he must. "Do you know your mother's name?" This time, she just nodded. Tabitha took a deep breath, and asked the question he _really_ didn't want to ask, but knew he had to ask anyway: "What is your mother's name?"

Amanda didn't know why the man who looked so much like herself was suddenly so interested in her life, but she answered his questions anyway. When he asked the last question, she stiffened. She really didn't want to talk about her mother, but he seemed really interested in the answer, so she took a deep breath, and muttered, "Elizabeth Brookfield."

_'And, there's the third strike,' _Tabitha thought, fighting a variety of emotions he hadn't had to deal with for almost a decade. There was no longer any doubt in his mind. This girl, Amanda, was his daughter. Sure, he could take a paternity test, but he already knew how it would turn out. He sighed, knowing full well that his past was going to be the focus of a lot of scrutiny over the next several days or so. Tabitha also knew that he had no choice but to contact Maxie. With another sigh, Tabitha told the girl to follow him, signaling the two female grunts who'd found her to come along as well. "As for the rest of you," he said, looking at the other grunts, "spread out in groups of two and search the ruins." While the grunts rushed to obey his orders, Tabitha led Amanda, her mightyena, and the two women back to the helicopter. At the base of the ramp, he told the girl to stay there and wait for him to return. He also told the two grunts to keep an eye on her. Then he turned and walked into the helicopter to contact Maxie.

Maxie was sitting behind his desk in his office, a satisfied grin on his face, remembering the look on his commanders' faces when he announced their punishment. _'That was priceless! I wish I'd had a camera!'_ The look the commanders had shared was one of the funniest things he'd ever seen. It took all his willpower to keep from laughing. His good humor evaporated, however, when a grunt burst into his office and said, "I'm really sorry to bother you, sir, but Tabitha just contacted us. Apparently, he needs to talk to you." Maxie leaned forward, all business. "What's it about?," he asked the grunt. "I don't know. All he said was that he needed to talk to you, and that it's really urgent.," the grunt replied. Maxie sighed, knowing that Tabitha wouldn't have contacted the base to talk to him during a mission unless it was _really_ important. "Alright, then. Patch him through to my office phone. On a _private_ channel!" The grunt rushed to comply, and before long, Maxie heard the voice of his most loyal underling. "Hello, sir. I'm really sorry to bother you, but we have a serious situation." Maxie frowned, concerned. "What kind of situation, Tabitha?," he asked. Tabitha paused for a few moments. Moments that seemed like an eternity to Maxie. "I can't exactly explain, sir. It would be better if you saw it for yourself. I _will_ say, however, that we're bringing a young girl back with us." "What? Why?," Maxie demanded. Tabitha sighed, "you'll see when we get back, sir." Maxie nodded to himself. "All right, Tabitha. I'll meet you at the helipad when you get back." At that, he broke off his link with his field commander and sat back in his chair, wondering what was going on. He knew that Tabitha had his reasons for not telling him what was up over the radio, and for bringing a girl back with him. All of them good ones. There was nothing to do now, but wait for events to unfold. Although, Maxie couldn't help wondering what surprises were in store for him.

Amanda sat on a rock near the red helicopter that the man, who she had reason to believe was her biological father, had entered several minutes ago. She looked at her brown and gold mightyena, who was curled up at her feet. She ignored the two women who were watching her. Her thoughts drifted to her mother and future step-father and her pokemon. She thought about the differences between them. _'One thing about pokemon,' _she thought, _'they won't leave your side. No matter what. Unlike mom and Brent.'_ After a few more minutes, she heard the man, 'Tabitha' the others called him, coming down the ramp towards her. When he reached her, he knelt down and said, "as soon as the others finish searching the ruins, we're leaving, and, you're coming with us." Amanda nodded in response.

Not long afterward, Tabitha received a report from the grunts in the ruins: "Groudon is not here, sir." As he was giving the orders to withdraw from the ruins, he noticed a large blue-gray helicopter landing nearby. _'Ah, Team Aqua shows up at last. We'll let them search the ruins unmolested. If Groudon isn't here, odds are real good that Kyogre isn't either.' _He watched as the Team Aqua members started climbing out of the chopper, and gathered around not far from the ruins. Meanwhile, his own grunts were just exiting the ruins, heading towards him. "Alright, everyone! Let's go!," he called, motioning to Amanda to follow him, as he turned and walked up the ramp.


	3. Unexpected Revelation

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokemon.

**Unexpected Revelation**

During the flight back to the base, the young girl, Amanda, sat quietly, staring into space, her mightyena laying placidly at her feet. Despite several attempts by Tabitha and several of the others to get her to respond, she continued to stare into space, occasionally muttering a word in response to a question they asked. She didn't know where they were taking her or how long she'd be staying with them, but she hoped that things would get better than they'd been. _'Whatever happens next, it's gotta be better than the life I've been living for the last six months.'_

Tabitha kept his eyes on the girl, _'my daughter,'_ he reminded himself for the hundredth time, during the entire flight back to base. He was concerned about her refusal to say more than one word at a time. He didn't know if she was just quiet, or if her lack of speech was the result of a more serious problem. _'I'll have the team doctor examine her when we land,'_ he thought.

Maxie stood near the helipad as the red Team Magma helicopter slowly descended. He noticed that all the other members had also gathered around, curious as to what was going on. While the exact conversation Tabitha had with the Team Magma leader wasn't known to the grunts, or Courtney for that matter, the fact that the field commander _had _contacted him was well known. "Did Tabitha mention what was going on?," Courtney asked. She'd been one of the first to join Maxie near the helipad and was standing on his right. Maxie just shook his head. "All I know is that him and the rest of the team are bringing a girl back with them." Courtney looked over at Maxie in shock. "Wow!," she said, "I can't believe it. I wonder why he'd allow that one." Maxie looked at his other commander and said, "So do I, Courtney, but we'll find out soon enough." By the time he'd turned back to the helicopter, it had touched down.

Standing behind the group who'd brought her who-knows-where, with the man who she had very good reason to assume was her real father by her left side, Amanda watched as the helicopters' ramp slowly lowered. As she looked past the group, she became aware that they had landed in some kind of building, and that there were others outside the helicopter talking excitedly. Her mightyena, standing on her right, snorted. Amanda looked down at her shiny pokemon and said, "it'll be alright," although she was privately harboring doubts. _'What if these people reject me? I have no where else to go, and no one else to turn to. My mother and stepfather never wanted me, and I have no friends except for my pokemon.' _She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she jumped when she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. Looking over, she noticed her presumed father looking at her. "Let's go," he said, and they followed the others down the ramp.

Maxie and Courtney watched in confusion as the young girl walked slowly down the ramp, with Tabitha by her side. For the most part, she kept her head down, looking at the ramp. At one point, she lifted her head and looked around. When she looked over at Maxie and Courtney, they both started in shock. "I can't believe my eyes!," Courtney gasped, "is it really possible that they're related? And if they are, why didn't Tabitha say anything?" Maxie didn't respond. He was too busy staring at the girl's face. Even from a distance, the resemblance was obvious. _'Could it really be? My field commander never said a word about having a family.' _As Maxie was pondering this unexpected development, he heard murmuring among the assembled grunts. Normally, he would have told them to be quiet, but this time, he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to bother.

Amanda noticed that everywhere she looked, people in the same weird costume that the group she'd come with had on were looking at her face in shock. She tried her best to ignore the murmurs of the group, and focused on a tall, red-haired man in a different outfit and another person, a woman judging by her dress, who was standing next to him. The woman said something Amanda didn't catch, and the man seemed lost in thought. Upon setting foot on the metal floor of the building, Tabitha, her father, guided her towards the pair.

They stopped just in front of Maxie, and Tabitha spoke up: "Sir, there was no trace of Groudon, but we did find this girl..." Tabitha trailed off, unsure of what to say next. Maxie nodded. "Go on, Tabitha," he said, eager to know why they had brought the girl with them, although, he suspected the answer. Tabitha took a deep breath and said, "I have every reason to believe that she's my daughter."


End file.
